The comic book world just got dunked into the messy vat of the 2016 election.
The CEO of Marvel Entertainment, Isaac Perlmutter, donated $1 million to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s personal nonprofit during a fundraiser on Thursday night.
Trump skipped last night’s GOP debate, and instead held a fundraiser for veterans in Iowa. All of the money donated goes to Trump’s nonprofit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, not directly to veteran groups. The fundraiser’s website, donaldtrumpforvets.com, says that “100 percent of your donations will go directly to veterans needs.”
Perlumutter’s outing as a Trump supporter, revealed by the Hollywood Reporter, drew mixed reactions from fans.
Marvel’s CEO has given $1 million to Trump and Trump spoke about how great he was at a recent event.
— Ryan T. Brown 🎮🦋 (@Toadsanime) January 29, 2016
*throws away Spider-Man figures*
I guess the Marvel CEO donated $1 mil to Trump because he likes supervillains
— HamletMachine (@Hamlet_Machine) January 29, 2016
>Marvel panders to SJWs
— Tsukkomi (@ljenkins314) January 29, 2016
>Marvel CEO donates to Trump charity
>SJWs lose what’s left of their minds pic.twitter.com/2bsuESHRwH
You should not not give a cent to anything @Marvel until their racist, Trump-supporting CEO steps down.
— Peter Coffin (@petercoffin) January 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/mylittlepwnies3/status/693083647423954945
https://twitter.com/aurosan/status/693076030999916544
Perlmutter’s wife, Laura Perlmutter, has previously donated $2 million to Conservative Solutions, a Super PAC backing Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) bid for president. In a statement provided to the Hollywood Reporter, a representative for the Perlmutter’s said, “The Perlmutter’s are thrilled to support their friend Donald Trump in his efforts to help veterans.”
Even though Trump wasn’t present at the Fox News debate, he still dominated the discussion online, remaining the top searched GOP candidate in all 50 states.
Trump claims the fundraiser garnered $6 million in donations on Thursday night, and the fundraiser’s website claims that $640,000 has been donated directly online.
An unbelievable night in Iowa with our great Veterans! We raised $6,000,000.00 while the politicians talked! #GOPDebate
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2016
However, reporters have noted that the public will not know how the funds are distributed or which organizations receive the funds until the Donald J. Trump foundation makes those numbers public, which it is under no legal obligation to do for another two years.
A point about Trump’s donations: we won’t know if or how much Trump actually gives until the Trump Foundation releases its 2016 990
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 29, 2016
Which probably won’t be until 2018 or so…
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 29, 2016
So unless these veterans organizations individually confirm receipt of Trump’s donation, we have to just take his word for it for now.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 29, 2016
Illustration via Max Fleishman
